By Liu Li-jen and William Hetherington / Staff reporter, with staff writerThe Russian Empire in 1875 sent a naval vessel to Taiwan proper to investigate after Japan attacked the island the year before, Russian historical records showed. National Taipei University of Education professor Yang Meng-che (楊孟哲) on Nov. 12 visited the Russian Academy of Science’s Taiwan Research Center to examine the documents and talk to researchers. Ibis’ report was published by the Russian military the following year, Yang said, adding that Taiwan researchers in Russia consider the report an impartial account of the Aboriginal communities. “Taiwan has had few exchanges with Russia aside from Chiang Kai-shek’s (蔣介石) treatise on the Soviet-China relationship, or the aid provided by Russia following the Jiji Earthquake,” Yang said, adding that the documents are invaluable in the face of the limited exchanges. There are plans to bring the documents to Taiwan next year for an exhibition and have them translated to Mandarin, Yang said.

Source: Taipei Times December 01, 2019 15:56 UTC